what would be considered more of a right-wing economic theory had a portion of that theory which accounted for bubbles and that kind of thing and john maynard keynes' theory had no such, a tech toture built into the theory. so it simply absorbed his friend's idea and brought it to his open. his friend said to him, what are you flip-flopping? basically in today's parlance? i thought we were arguing here. john maynard keynes responded with a coat that -- a quote that all americans should pay attention to, it was, i don't know what you do, but when i get new facts i change my opinion. that is something we all need to do better. joe biden, come on guys. whether you're -- trump obviously lost the election. come on. let's get it together, people. host: all right, don. and here is carol in red hook, new york. democrat. hi, carol.

carol, are you there? in red hook, new york. no. >> appreciate you being flexible with our schedule. a few things at the top. tomorrow, secretary austin will host the contact group at ramstein air force base, germany. the udcb has been instrumental in coordinating international support to assist ukraine in defending its sovereignty against russia's unprovoked aggression. to date, the united states and our allies and partners have collectively committed more than $126 billion in security assistance to ukraine since russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. the ubcg has also been critical in bolstering ukraine's defense capability and building a credible deterrence force so it can defend against future

aggression as well. while i won't get ahead of any announcements, at this milestone meeting of the contact group, which will be secretary austin's last, you can expect the secretary to continue this work at ramstein tomorrow. he'll engage officials from around the world to discuss ukraine's battlefield needs and longer term defense requirements. as you know, the meetings will focus on key capabilities ukraine needs including air defense system, artillery defense systems as well as efforts to enhance the defense industrial base. following the meeting, secretary austin will participate in a press conference. turning to the middle east, today, u.s. central command forces conducted multiple precision strikes against two iranian-backed houthi underground advanced conventional weapons storage facilities within houthi controlled arias of yemen. the houthi use these to conduct navy ships in the southern red sea and gulf of aden.

this is part of the effort to degrade these attempts to threaten regional partners and military and commercial vessels in the region. switching gears, on the transition, the department continues to execute a smooth and professional transition with daily interactions with the president-elect's agency review team, or a.r.t. as of 8:00 a.m. "today," a.r.t. members have parties payed in 106 meetings with d.o.d. officials and the task force has responded to 81 requests for information, r.f.i.'s. finally, there were briefings on the wildfires in california. the department will provide additional fire fighting personnel and capabilities. they are working with the national guard which is deployed under the governor's declaration

of state of emergency. they are adding two modular air fire fighting units. two more are being readied. they have four additional that could be used if needed. additionally they're sending 10 navy helicopters with water delivery buckets to immediately assist with aerial suppression. with that, i'd be happy to take your questions. leta? reporter: thank you. on ukraine, the latest amount is not clearly the entirety of what is left. how concerned is the administration that you are leaving a pretty substantial amount of money not delivered to ukraine in terms of weapons, several billion dollars? and do you think sp will that those weapons will get to ukraine? is there danger of a lag?

secretary singh: there will be money for the incoming administration to decide what they decide to do with that remaining authority. and you know, what i would say is, on the question of are we concerned, ukraine has bipartisan support. within congress. and it is because of our efforts that ukraine continues to be successful on the battlefield. and you know this. you know, back in february, 2022, when rush invaded ukraine, many people, many pundits thought ukraine would fall immediately. and it is because of this administration's way forward and the commitment of the ukrainians and their courage and fighting on the battlefield that they continue to survive. but they do that with the support of the united states and other allied countries and coalitions through the ukraine defense contact group. i think it's clear that the

ukraine defense contact group -- it's more than just a common understanding. it's a common cause. so it's really up to the incoming administration to decide what they decide to do with the remaining authority that's left. but of course we hope that in some way the ukraine defense contact group continues on. certainly support for ukraine remains strong within congress. and i'm sorry, you had a second question on ukraine? reporter: no, i was -- just on the assistance to california, for additional, you said 10 navy helicopters, that's active duty, correct? secretary singh: it is through the national forward, right now it is all through state authorities. reporter: so these 10 navy helicopters are what then? those aren't active duty? secretary singh: we are standing

by to send 10 navy helicopters with water delivery buckets. i don't have the authorities on which they'll be provided under. i'm happy to get back. reporter: i'm not asking for authority. is that active duty navy? secretary singh: yes, that's my understanding. reporter: do you have any other details. secretary singh: can i take that question? about the active duty? i don't want to misrepresent anything. let me get back to you on that. these would be federal assets. reporter: so it seems like a slightly anemic amount of federal assets being provided to the largest fire in california history with the commander in chief out there. why not let the zone -- flood the zone with more assets? secretary singh: it's also a

matter of can those assets get in the air? right now cal fire has some of the best capabilities and equipment to fight fires in california. we can surge oi asets and the president has directed this department to bolster whatever california needs. but we have to work with california. right now we can't even get assets up in the air because the fires are so bad, the winds are so bad. until we can do that, you're seeing the footage on the ground. i know you're covering it as well. until we can get more assets in the air there's only so much we can provide. we'll be standing by to support every single way that we can you saw the president has directed the department of defense to feed into what california needs. but there's safety protocols that have to be followed. until we can get additional air support in the air, you know, we're standing by ready to support california. reporter: does the pentagon have

military plans to invade greenland if ordered to do so? secretary singh: i thought i'd get a question on this. appreciate it. look, i saw the comments. i'm certainly not going to get into hypotheticals, i think that's for the incoming administration to speak to. we're concerned with the real national security concerns that confront this building every single day. which is why you're seeing the secretary convene the ubcg tomorrow in ramstein for the 25th time. we're going to continue to keep our eye on the ball and focus when it comes to ukraine, when it comes to what we're doing in the middle east to support israel, and also continuing to push for a ceasefire in gaza. and then, you know, while we only have limited amount of days left in this administration we're keeping an eye on our pacing challenge in inodo pacific. reporter: our planning organization. are there plans to take greenland by force if ordered to

do so. secretary singh: thank you for question the question. i'm not aware of any plans. reporter: there are detainees in guantanamo bay, you can't talk about it but what's the administration's policy, do you want to close guantanamo bay? what's your policy on gitmo? secretary singh: i think the president has been pretty clear, what you've seen over the past few months is more detainees, you know, leaving guantanamo bay. again when it comes to this specific appeal there's a process and -- that we are going through with the appeals process. because of that, you know, these individuals are going to stay there for the foreseeable future. but look, i think every administration has made a concerted effort to try to get detainees out of guantanamo bay and close that facility.

these things take time. as early as this week you saw us make and announcement about other detainees being transferred to other countries. so when it comes to the appeal i have to leave it at that. >> how can you say you -- how is it in line with the policy of closing gitmo if you're filing a motion to not let the four of them out? secretary singh: right now they don't have somewhere to go. we have to go through the process -- this is an appeal that as you remember over the summer, when the secretary weighed in on this process, that until it's resolved in the courts, we have to let that play out. so at this time we have to go through the judicial proceedings. i don't have any more to add right now. reporter: on yemen, what's the administration's policy with the strikes?

it was mentioned degrading the shipping lanes, is that still the policy? can you define what the policy is. secretary singh: so many specific policy questions. when it comes to houthis, nothing changed about appropriation prosperity guardian, that remains intact and is there to continue to degrade houthi capabilities and protect commercial shipping and our ships and other allied ship, coalition ships that go through the red sea. when it comes to our policy on the houthis, we never said we were going to take every capability off the map. what we did say is we're going to continue to work to degrade capabilities, and to ensure you know, upholding the international rules-based order and the free flow of commerce through that region. so you know, we continue to be successful in our strikes again. we're not going to be able to take off the map every single capability. but every single time that we conduct a dynamic strike, or do the strikes that you saw sent

come announce earlier this -- centcom announce earlier this morning, that further degrades capabilities that they can use against commercial ships or our own navy ships. did that help? ok. reporter: on north korea and the ukraine, on north korea, there was new middle range -- and kim jong un said it could affect the barrier and turn on the enemy and the u.s. territory as a target in case of contingency. what's the pentagon's reaction on this? secretary singh: we're aware of north korea's launch of a

ballistic missile. as always we conduct closely with our allies in the region. we condemn these actions, and would continue to urge the dprk from further unlawful and destabilizing acts. we've seen this type of behavior bofer. while we don't assess that it presents a threat to u.s. forces, we're going to continue to monitor the situation. reporter: violation of the -- secretary singh: i think you've heard us say that previously many times before. it's something we've seen the dprk do in the past, we take this seriously and will continue to consult with our allies in the region. reporter: ukrainian said to negotiate an end to the war with russia, guarantees made for ukraine. how would you characterize this?

secretary singh: i'll let president zelenskyy's words speak for themselves. he's ultimately the one who has to decide how this war comes to a conclusion. that's not for us to dictate, it's not for us to dictate those terms. what we're doing as the united states and the department of defense is what the secretary has done since april, 2022. convene the udcg and bring together partners and different coalitions to help ukraine with what it needs both in the short-term and long-term in its battlefield requirements. that's what you're going to see convene tomorrow. we'll leave it at that. mike. reporter: helicopters coming from san diego or other navy -- big navy bases in california? secretary singh: i don't have more information on where they're coming from just yet.

reporter: over the past 30 days or so, centcom has announced a series of strikes against isis, some of them have been -- seemed to be larger than kind of the usual battle rhythm. is that an indication that the organization that isis is either reconstituting itself or is posing a greater threat than usual to the u.s.? secretary singh: no, i think from when you saw the fall of assad, you saw, you know, russian assets further consolidate which allowed u.s. central command to take actions in the desert and elsewhere where we had previously done -- we previously hadn't done significant amount of strikes. i wouldn't read into it that isis is reconstituting. that's why we're in syria and iraq, to prevent that from happening, to prevent them from becoming the strength we saw a

decade ago. that's why the mission there is so important. these strikes, when they were conducted, it is at the time and place of the commander's choosing. but it is also the opportune moment. we would inflict the damage because of the timing. i wouldn't read into the cadence as much as it's more about the right time, right place for the strikes to be done. reporter: fair enough. so then, given all that sort of in the context of new orleans and that particular attacker's profession of isis ideology, is there an assessment from the pentagon that while perhaps militarily the organization is not an increased threat, that ideologically they're still able to influence u.s. service members -- u.s. citizens in the homeland? secretary singh: i certainly think there's -- we're certainly aware that groups like isis and other terrorist groups use social media or social media

platforms to reach anyone and that's something that is incredibly concerning. but that's not something that just this department deals with. that's an interagency effort including with homeland security. you know, in terms of, you know, the new orleans suspect that you referenced, that's under investigation. but i think something that the investigation is going to look at is how and why this individual was able to be influenced, able to be targeted and swayed by a group like isis. you know. and many years out of the service. it's of course something we're concerned about. and that's why our in addition in syria and iraq is so important, to continue to degrade isis, as we've seen them proliferate in other pooforts the world. we want to make sure that we are, you know, addressing that head on and that's why we are where we are in both of those places.

reporter: days ago, about 3,800 casual tirks do you have any update on casualties? secretary singh: the question is on north korea soldiers and casualties. the,000 dprk, it's a mix of killed in arks and wounded in action. i don't have more than what we've previously provided. reporter: does the u.s. currently provide r.p.g. in syria, what's the current supply? secretary singh: i don't have anything on those reports.

i think you know our partnership is with the s.d.f. we work with them when it comes to further degrade isis' capabilities in the region. whether it's the unilateral strikes you've seen central command conduct over the past decade and most recently in the past few weeks. reporter: how does this help the transition with troops and administration that's currently supplying weapons? secretary singh: the work we do in syria is in partnership with the s.d.f. it's important to remember that the whole reason why we are in syria is to continue that enduring mission to defeat isis. that is a partnership with the s.d.f. whether it be in partner or in strikes, our entire mission in syria is to ensure the continuing defeat of isis. reporter: exclusive on what's

going to be released tomorrow, this massive, substantial p.v.a., how much is obligated, how much is drawn on today of the 72p.d.a.'s so far, roughly? secretary singh: i can tell you how much we have left in authority, i i don't have the tie totals of how much other time. it's approximately $126 billion in security assistance to the ukraine that the united states and our partners have collectively committed. in terms of authority, there will be a few billion dollars left in authority left. reporter: bimy question though, when this comes out tomorrowfish size and scope it'll be useful for the public to know, it's like over x billions but can you get that roundup from 2021 through now? secretary singh: i'm not going to get ahead of any announcements. you can go back and look through the the different p.d.a.'s and totals we have released, i'm not

going to do the math from here right now. what i can tell you is that the authority, you can look and also see what congress allocated the department. there'll be a few billion left in authority for the next administration to decide what to do when it comes to ukraine. reporter: the pentagon's got an obligation to do the math rather than having the public try go through 72 of these things. that's one point. two, i think a lot of people are going to wonder, why did the pentagon -- why were you unable to obligate, use all the authority, $4.8 billion i think it was, why not? why are you leaving any left given the urgency of the -- of the situation? secretary singh: you may remember last year we had a gap in funding we were not able to restock our own shelves and our own supplies. so when we weren't able to do that, we were operating -- when we were operating under a time when we were not able to resupply our open stocks that prevented us from getting p.d.a.'s out the door.

you saw us pause for several weeks in fact on being able to supply ukraine with what it needs on the battlefield. with every single p.d.a., we have to weigh it against our own readiness and if the secretary and the chairman do not feel that we can provide a package in a certain amount of time we will not be able to provide that package that. delay in funding severely limited the department on what we were able to provide ukraine during that time. reporter: the thing was passed in april, we're in january. a person who doesn't follow that closely would say that's a long time ago. secretary singh: i would tell that prudent person, it takes the industrial base, it days a while to produce these capabilities. the fact that we're at the point of providing over 70 presidential drawdown authority packages to ukraine i think speaks volumes to this department and this administration's commitment to ukraine.

reporter: a followup. can i get a clarification on the maps, the numbers. how many being provided. how many being ready. secretary singh: sorry, let me just go back through my -- so the california national guard is adding two mafs and two more being readied by the nevada national guard. the department has four additional that could be used if needed. so that's a total of eight. reporter: the meeting in the white house said they're preparing four more. secretary singh: i would say the department. reporter: and also when you minged an update on the transition context, in the time remaining in his term, is secretary austin intending to speak with secretary-designate,

or has that happened? does he intend to? secretary singh: i don't have any calls or meetings to announce at this time. reporter: does that mean there are plans to should he be confirmed? what exactly is your statement? secretary singh: right now, i don't have anything to announce. if i have anything to announce about a meeting or call i'll let you know. i'm going to go to the phones. reporter: i have two questions. one on ukraine and one on iraq. regarding ukraine, can the pentagon provide the number of ukrainian f-16 pilots that have been trained in the u.s. even if you have to take that question? and can you provide us with a general idea of the u.s. support for the f-16 pilot training program under this administration's tenure? and my second question on the actions against isis, can the

pentagon explain a little bit more about what exactly happened in the iraqi mountains? were the fighters that conducted air strikes all u.s. aircraft? did the f-15's, f-16's conduct preplanned air strikes as part of the operation? just trying to understand that more. secretary singh: thank you. on your question on the isis strikes, i think you're referring to that if a few weeks ago. i think central command put out all that we're going to on the strikes. but for more information i'd refer you to them to speak to that operation. on the frveg-16 program, i think you're pretty well versed on it. we've trained -- we are a co-lead on the care capability coalition. we have trained a handful of ukrainian pilots. that training took place here in the united states. of course other countries did host ukrainian pilots and continue to train them. i'm not going to get into specific numbers right now. but i think you're certainly

well versed in all the training that go into the f-16 and you know, the air capability coalition is working to train more additional tie pilots when ready. reporter: the january 6 preventing them from attacking yemen, can you confirm whether or not the -- there were targets and whether or not that did prevent anything? and central command's policies on announcing an attack, is there a policy for when they'll alert the united states public about any attacks on our ships? secretary singh: apologies, you came in a little muffled, i think i lot a little bit of your question. i think you asked about an attack on the harry s. truman or

maybe if the harry s. truman was hit. the ship was not hit. you know, our destroyers -- the care strike group, whenever there's something launched from, you know the houthi controlled areas in yemen they'll shoot that down in defense of our ships or other commercial vehicles transiting the red sea but i'm not aware of any attacks on u.s. personnel or ships recently. in terms of, you know, policies on attacks, you know, i think centcom tries to put that out as frequently as possible. but i'd refer you to centcom to speak more to that. jeff. reporter: thank you. wanted to clarify, the four mafs and 10 helicopters. is it accurate to say they are going to california? or they could go?

and i was hoping you could clarify your statement about how nothing can get in the air. aren't there areas outside of los angeles where the u.s. military could put assets in the air to help with the snier thank you. secretary singh: jeff, for more on where assets can fly, i think california would be better to speak to that. my understanding is the wind conditions are so bad that even to put out the fires right now you cannot get aircraft or helicopters in the air where those fires are concentrated. of course, there are other areas in california where you can fly. again, i'm not a fire expert. i would refer you to the state of california to speak more to that. in terms of the -- the helicopters, the department is sending 10 navy helicopters with water delivery buckets to assist with aerial suppression and the mafs, the department has four additional that could be used if needed.

back in the room. reporter: thank you. back to syria. local media shows that there's increasing u.s. forces activity in northern syria and parts of north of iraq claiming that these forces are moving into syria, and there are some reports that specific units went into kobani which has nothing to do with isis, there's no isis threat we know of at that specific area. can you give us any information on this? can you approve these reports? secretary singh: i think you're referring to reports that the united states is setting up a permanent structure and that's not accurate. the s.d.f. has been operating in that region but i don't have anything to read out on u.s. forces, setting any up permanently in the northern part of sir yasm as you know, the

de-isis mission is in that eastern part of the country. reporter: pre-inauguration there's no change in the posture of u.s. forces? secretary singh: nothing has changed when it comes to our posture in sir yasm reporter: as previously reported, there are now 2,000 u.s. troops in syria. do they have any role -- secretary singhing: similar to the question i just got. there's no change to the mission. the mission continues to be the focus on defeating isis. that's why we have troops on the ground. that's their sole mission. reporter: and one more. turkish drones today target a mass gathering of civilians, they were protesting against turkish forces.

is this department engaging with turkish counterparts for this? secretary singh: i don't have anything for you on that i haven't seen those reports. last question. charlie just got upset that i was going to say last question. reporter: back to combating wild fires there. as significant number of americans that think d.o.d.'s sole seoul mission is to drop bombs, fire missiles and shoot at enemies? far-away places. but in reality the disaster relief is a big part of d.o.d.'s mission. can you speak to that level of commitment to helping out abroad or domestically when called upon? and why is it important for americans to understand that? secretary singh: i think you just outlined it. there's the perception about the department, about, you know, some of the -- when you see the

imagery of the systems and capabilities we have in our stocks that immediately invoke some type of idea but you're correct. the department does provide humanitarian support, not just for folks here at home but all around the world. you know. middle of last year the department was involved in a humanitarian mission to get aid into gaza. to get life-saving food and medical supply into gaza. we've been involved in missions when it comes to haiti and you know, in areas of the world where there have been horrific national -- natural disasters such as flooding or hurricanes or earthquakes. and so, you know, while of course the mission of the department will always be to defend our national security interests, of course there's a humanitarian aspect to that. and i think, you know, i can continue to go on from here but i would encourage you to speak to each of the services who have

their own involvement and own humanitarian work that they do in their missions all around the world. and i think certainly, you know, of course, as we think about what you are our folks are doing on the ground, whether it be how we helped assist residents in north carolina to, you know, residents in southern california, i think we do a lot of great work that of course doesn't always get covered all the time. our service members do it very proudly with that, i'll go to charlie. last question. reporter: completely left field. venezuelan authorities say they've arrested a number of americans and among those is a high-ranking military official. confirm, deny, acknowledge? secretary singh: i've seen the reports, i can't confirm. i'd refer you to the state department. reporter: the military aspect? secretary singh: can't confirm it. reporter: centcom put out a

statement that a coalition partner was killed in the anti-isis mission. do we know which partner? secretary singh: i don't have that, i refer you to centcom. i don't have those details in front of me. central command should be able to provide more of that for you. ok. it was a -- it was not an american that was killed. thanks everyone. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, whicis responsible for its caption content and accuracy. viicaprg] >> tuesday, president trump's defense secretary nominee hegseth will have a confirmation hearing. rned a master's degree inst, and

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